Bean-picking machine.



No. 855,432. PATBNTBD MAY 28, 1907.

- Gr.11. GRIPPEN.

BEAN PIGKING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 52m26.190s.

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No. 855,432. PATENTE'D MAY 28, 1907.

' 'G. F. CRIPPBN. I

BEAN P10K-ING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BEAN-PIGKING MACHINE.

specinmimil of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed September 26, 1905. Serial No. 280,242`

To @ZZ zoll/m, it may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, GEORGE F. CRIPPEN, a

. citi'zen of the United States of America, .re-

siding at Ypsilanti, in the county of Washtenaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bean-Picking Machines, of which the follow ing is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in bean picking machines and especially to improvements in a class of such machines shown and described my Letters Patent of the United States dated March 1st, 1904 and numbered 753,370.

In bean picking machines in which discriminating rubber rolls are employed and where the grain is fed to the rolls near one end, it is found that the work of separating the dirt and imperfect beans from the good is practically all done by the rolls at the lend or place where the grain is discharged upon them, owing to the fact that at this point the beans move slowly along the trough formed by the rolls and as they pass toward the discharge end thereof, move more and more rapidly. The rolls therefore soon become worn at their receiving end and this wearing as it travels along the rolls, the finer and lighter particles and poor beans will be drawn through at different points throughout the length of the rolls, owing to .the increasing power or tendency of said rolls to seize the grain as it travels toward this discharge end.

In my Letters Patent above referred to,

the machine is shown as being provided with horizontally swinging frames vwithin each of which a serles of discriminating rolls is journaled, and it is an object of this invention to provide a suitable swing frame in which the rolls are so journaled'that the refuse drop-v ping from between the rolls next above will not fall upon the rolls below in such la manner that it is liable to be carried back between said rolls to their receiving side, anda fur e ther 4object `of the invention is to provide improved means for driving the rolls-.and Ito provide .each frame with certain `other new and useful features all as hereinafter more fully described, reference being Ahad Lto the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1, is a side elevation of a swing frame for a bean picking machine embodying the same with parts broken away toshow the `construction; Fig. 3, is a transverse vertical sectionof the lower part of the frame 5 Fig. 4, is an elevation of a pair of rolls detached, and showing their relation toeach other when in place in the frame; Fig. 5, is a similar view of a modified form of roll Fig. 6, is a diagram illustrating the operation of the rolls shown in Fig. 4; and Fig. 7, is a similar view illus trating the operation of the rolls shown in Fig. 5.

As shown in the drawing the swing frame consists of a top casting 1 formed with an upwardly extending trunnion 2 to engage a suitable ,bearing on the machine frame, not shown, and to the ends of this top casting are bolted the downwardly extending end castings 3 and 4 which are bolted at their lower ends to a supporting bottom casting 5 formed with a downwardly extending holllow trunnion 6 to engage a bearing in the arm 7 of the machine frame, and extending through this hollow trunnion is a short driving shaft 8 provided with a gear 9 on its lower end and a bevel gear 10 on its upper end in mesh with a bevel gear 11 on a transverse shaft 12 mounted-in bearings on the i. These end castings are `each Y end castings. v formed with suitable bearings for the shafts 13 upon which the rubber discriminating rolls 14 are formed, said rolls extending across the space between the castings and arranged in groups of four, geared together by means of small gears 15 on 'the inner or receiving ends of the rolls. The end casting 4 is formed with suitable recesses 16 to receive the ears 15 and into lthe reduced vinner ends o these recesses are driven cups 17 each formed of sheet metal with an axial opening for the shaft in which it fits closely so that lthe centrifugal force, when the frame is revolved around the central shaft of ythe machine (not shown), will not throw vthe oil from the bearings on to the gears from which it would get to the faces of the rolls, and make them slippery so vthat they would fail my invention 5 Fig. 2, ,is a front elevation of f roo IIO

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to seize the poor beans and foreign matter to be eliminated.

The rolls are arrangedin pairs with one roll above the other and the lower roll set to one side of the upper roll about two thirds of its width so that each pair of rolls forms the bottom and one side of a trough into one end of which troughs the beans Vare fed through inclined openings 18 formed inthe casting 4 with nipples 19 extending upwardly and outwardly from the end of the casting for the attachment of flexible feed tubes. The outer sides of thetroughs are formed by removable sheet metal slides 2O slipped into inclined grooves 21 cut in the end castings with their lower edges extending close a, to the surface of the lower roll of each pair.

The lower corners of these slides are bent outward to fit around the feed openings 1S at the inner ends of the rolls and at their outer ends, to fit around the discharge openings 22 for the troughs, formed in the inner wall of a vertical passage 23 in the end casting 3. This passage conducts the good beans away from all of the rolls and the poor beans, dirt etc. drawn through between the rolls as the beans pass along their troughs, falls downward at the back of the rolls through a passage formed by providing a suitable sheet metal back 24 extending across between the end castings, and passes out through a suitable hopper 25 at the lower end thereof having its discharge opening located at its outer end so that the centrifugal force will aid the passage of the j refuse and prevent its clogging.

Each pair of rolls is offset toward the front side of the frame from vertically below thev pair labove so that the refuse falling from the upper pair can strike only the rear side of the upper roll of the lower pair and thus there will be no danger of its being caught between the lower roll of the upper pair and the upper roll of the lower pair and drawn throughY between them. lThe end castings are suitably formed to provide for such offsetting of the rolls and thus the hopper and discharge passage extend downward at one side of the shaft 12 out of the way o f the gears. inclined deiiector plates 26 extend across the passage at the rear side of the upper roll of each pair to deiect any beans which might strike the back 24 and rebound. Y

To drive the rolls with the least amount of strain and friction, they. are arranged in groups of four and the rolls of each group are geared together. The shaft of one roll of each group is extended through its bearing at the outer end of the frame and on these extended ends are secured sprocket wheels 27 engaged by a sprocket chain`28 passing around a large drive sprocket 29 on the shaft 12.

The seizing or grasping tendency of each pair of rolls is increased from their inner or receiving ends toward their outer or discharge end by journaling their shafts parallel and tapering the rolls, as shown in Fig. 4, or by journaling the shafts out of parallelism and using cylindricalrolls, as shown in Fig. 5. The space between the adjacent surfaces of the rolls in either case is increased toward their discharge ends and thus the angle of resistance to the passage of the kernels between the rolls is lessened and the tendency of therolls to draw the grain through, proportionately increased, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. This angle of resistance lying be tween the line a-b drawn through the axes of the rolls and the line a-c drawn from the axis of either roll through the point of contact of the kernel with the surface of the roll, is affected, making it greater at the receiving th an at the discharge end of the rolls, by the nearer approach toward the outer end of the rolls, of the kernel to the neutral line a-b permitted by the divergence of the surfaces or increase in the space between the same.

The tapering or conical rolls would seize the grain more readily at a point of large diameter than at a point of small diameter if the rolls were so journaled that the space between their adjacent surfaces was the same throughout their entire lengths, because the angle of resistance decreases in proportion to the increase in the diameter of the rolls when said angle is not affected by a change in the space between the surfaces, but this effect is more than overcome in the construction shown, by the divergence of the surfaces which permits the kernels to enter farther between the rolls. It is therefore evident that tapering rolls journaled with their adjacent surfaces parallel, may be employed. and the same result, the distribution of the work along the entire length of the rolls, secured provided the grain is fed to the small end of such rolls.

Having thus yfully described myfinvention, what l claim is 1. In a bean picking machine, the combination of two discriminating rolls revolving toward each other combining to form varying angles of resistance to the passage of material between the rolls, which angles are greatest at one end of the rolls and gradually .decrease toward the opposite end of the rolls Agether at one end of the rolls than at the other and arranged to rotate toward each other, whereby the rolls combine to vform varying angles of resistance to the passage of material between the rolls. a

3. In a bean picking machine, the combi- IOO IIS

. nation of parallel roll shafts rotating toward each other and rubber rolls on said shafts so formed that the angles of resistance to the passage of material between said rolls are greater at one end of the rolls than at the other, to cause the rolls to seize the material less readily at one of their ends than at the other.

4. In a bean picking machine, the combination of a swing frame, a series of discriminating rolls journaled in said frame in pairs, each pair being set off from vertically'below the pair above to prevent the material passing between the rolls above from falling upon the rolls below `and being drawn back between said lower pair. A

5. In a bean picking machine, the combination with a swing frame, of a series of discriminating rolls journaled in said frame and arranged in pairs, the upper roll of each pair being set above and at one side of the vertical center line of the lower roll to form one side and the bottom of a trough for the beans, and each pair of rolls being so set relative to the pair above that the upper roll of the lower pair is below the lower roll of the upper air.

p 6. In a bean picking machine, the combination with a swing frame, of a series of discriminating rolls ournaled in said frame and arranged in groups, gears on the ends of the rolls to transmit motion from one roll to the others of each group, a sprocket wheel on the shaft of one roll of each group and a sprocket chain engaging said sprockets.

7. In a bean picking machine, the combination with discriminating rolls along which the beans are fed by centrifugal force, of a frame in which the rolls are journaled formed with recesses at the inner ends of the bearings for the inner ends of the rolls in the axes of which recesses the roll shafts extend, and cups to iit tightly into the recesses and formed with axial openings fitting the roll shafts between the bearings and the rolls.

8. In a bean picking machine, the combination with a series of discriminating rolls, of a swing frame in which said rolls are j ournaled consisting of top and bottom castings provided with trunnions upon which the frame is adapted to turn, an inner end casting provided with bearings for one end.of the rolls and with curved openings leading therethrough to each pair of rolls to conduct the beans thereto, and an outer end castingprovided with bearings and formed with a vertical passage and openings into said passage at the discharge end of the rolls.

9. In a bean picking machine, the combination with discriminating rolls arranged in pairs to form the bottom and one side of a trough, of a swing frame having an inner end casting formed with bearings for the roll shafts and a recess at the inner end of each bearing and provided with a curved feed open` ing for each pair of rolls, an outer end casting formed with a vertical passage and openings leading into said passage at the discharge end of each pair of rolls, plates engaging slots in the end castings and forming the other side of the trough, a back plate extending across between the end castings at the rear of the rolls to form a passage for the material passing between the rolls, and a hopper at the lower end of the frame having its discharge opening at its outer end adjacent to the vertical passage in the outer end casting.

l0. In a bean picking machine, the combination of a series of discriminating rolls journaled in pairs with each pair set off from vertically beneath the pair above with the upper roll of the lower pair adjacent to the lower roll of the upper pair, each pair of rolls being arranged with the upper roll above and to one side of the lower roll to form one side and the bottom of a trough for the beans 3 a' frame havingbearings in its ends for the rolls f and offset from a `vertical line toward its lower end and provided withfeed openings at one end of the rolls and a discharge passage at the opposite end, trunnions on the upper and lower end of the frame in axial alinement, a shaft in the axis of the lower trunnion, a horizontally extending shaft in bearings on the frame, bevel gears on the ends of said shafts, a sprocket wheel in the outer end of the horizontal shaft, sprockets on the roll shafts, a chain engaging said sprockets, a back plate extending across between the ends of the frame at the rear of the rolls to form a passage for the material passing between the rolls, and a discharge hopper at the lower end of the last named passage extending downward at one side of the horizontal shaft.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. CRIPPEN.

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